There are many situations where it would be desirable to remotely collect one or more regular or irregular shaped objects spread out over the floor, ground or other substantially level surface for deposit into a collection bin for later re-use or study. This is the case where the environment in which the objects are located is inhospitable to human presence. An example is a golf driving range where hundreds of golf balls need to be collected without suspending play. The environment may also be so distant that it would be too dangerous or time consuming for humans to travel there. An example is the surface of a planet, such as Mars, where a rover is best suited for collecting rocks and other geologic specimens.
In the past, various grippers and scoopers have been attached to the distal end of an articulating or extensible arm mounted to a wheeled or endless treaded vehicle. Depending upon the shape of the objects to be collected, these devices have in many cases been tedious to operate by remote control in a manner that permits the objects to be quickly and reliably collected. Extended operations can unnecessarily drain battery power and sometimes valuable objects must be left behind. Furthermore, the complexity of such devices makes them prone to breakdowns.
Prior art robots have often had limited storage capabilities and therefore it would also be desirable for a robotic collection system to be able to rapidly and efficiently dispense or dump the collected objects into a storage compartment or other collection bin. For example, a Mars rover would preferably have the capability of rapidly and efficiently collecting various rock samples, dumping them into a collection bin, and then continuing the process of collection. The collection bin could be part of a rocket module that would return the collected Mars rock samples to Earth for scientific study.